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11 cents per watt

The going rate for solar panels is in the neighborhood of $1.00 per watt. I got an email about panels to go for 11 cents per watt, in case anyone is tempted.

There is a company selling Renesola 300 watt panels removed from a solar farm. So they are used and have (presumably) cosmetic blemishes. Testing of 100 or 200 panels has so far turned up no failures or problems.

There is something of a gamble, because there is no warranty -- just a take or leave it sort of thing. If I didn't already have two pallets (50 panels, 10+ KWatts), I'd probably be rolling the dice, but I tend to gamble like this. If someone is only comfortable with a sure thing, they should pass on this.

FWIW, I am not selling, and have no financial interest in the company or the deal. I'm just a fan of solar and great deals (which often requires some risk). The company is sunelec.com, the same company that sold me my 50, and the deal is not on their web site, last time I checked.

My existing panels are already expected to produce 60+ KWH per sunny day, and my average daily usage is only around 8. So I'd be better off adding to my battery bank, than adding to my panels. My brother and I are tempted to get some of these anyway. He charges an electric car and someday I might, too.

They're not hard to install. Mine (and most -- all?) just have an aluminum frame, like a simple picture frame. Specialized and expensive hardware is available, but there is no need to get fancy.

I am sure no inverter is included. Enphase has micro-inverters intended to use one panel. My brother has those and is connected to the grid. I dislike that approach, personally, because those inverters are expensive, and if the grid goes down, micro-inverters shut down, leaving available power unusable until the grid comes back up.

Outback Power has good inverters. My panels will be feeding Midnite Solar charge controllers to charge batteries, which will supply my Outback inverters. I focus pretty hard on cost / watt, to keep down overall cost while meeting my needs. I don't mind cheap inverters for small stuff, like I'd use on a camping trip. But for powering a home, I would steer away from Chinese or generics. On the whole, those have, ahem, "generous" ratings and a reputation for poor reliability.

I might as well post it for all. For what it's worth, a co-worker, my brother, and I decided to buy one pallet (now 22 panels). The co-worker will handle the order and buy 13 or so panels, and then my brother and I will later split the remaining panels.